Groundhog Day

Over two months since my last update.

It was during Thanksgiving weekend shopping that I managed to get a huge home gym for a total of $130 including 250lbs of olympic standard weight plates. With another $30 barbell added to the mix for deadlift and squat, there were no excuses so I hit the weights.

For my first effort, bench press at 110lbs total. Yeah. I only managed six reps so I dropped back to 70lbs just to get used to it. Way too easy, though 90lbs was starting to become a proper challenge to grow on. Last I checked my max, I could do 205. I'm sure it's higher now, but I won't be trying a max for a while, in favor of staying consistent with what I can do for ten reps straight. At the moment, that's 170lbs.

I elected to try burnout where you see how many reps at a lower weight you can do before you can't go any further. I did that with 120lbs. I was shocked how light that felt and thought I could go almost forever. No. I burned out after 17 reps. With a quick rest, I managed to get another ten before burnout.

Deadlift started at 115lbs (two 45lb plates on a 25lb bar). I tested my one rep max on January 9 to the extent that I had weight plates for and 270lbs was "easy" enough I did two reps. At that point in time, my normal deadlift workout weight was 215. Right now, my deadlift workout has me at 255lbs. I'm sure my actual max is into the 300 range quite safely. I just don't have the plates to test it. With deadlift, my weak point had always been my ability to maintain grip on the bar. I use lifting straps now. I'll train my grip in time.

Squat I kind of got out of. It's dangerous to do without a spotter. I'll have to get a curl bar in the near future and those come with a set of dumbbells so I can use my 25lb and 10lb plates to get 70lb plus the bar on each side during a safer form of squat.

Cardio wasn't a big thing during the past two months. I've been told many times that you can't really do much fat burn while building muscle. Taking this to heart, the only real way I got my heart rate up was during heavy lifts.

With the start of February, I'm calling my first bulk phase done and I'm focusing on fat reduction while doing enough lifting (every three days instead of every two) to keep what muscle I have. I have managed two hours of cardio a day and it looks like the pattern of 50 minutes in the morning and 70 minutes after work is ideal.

I still do the same amount of cardio on lifting days since my new standard has me resting a maximum of three minutes between sets. This part is significant because there were times I'd have ten minutes or more between sets because I would do my lifting while cooking or doing chores, not keeping track of time. With less rest, my ability to complete the set is reduced so I'm forced to adapt once again.

While I was increasing my weights by 10lbs per week, I'm switching to 5lbs per week during the next two months, with the aim to stay at 265/270lbs (free bar weighs 5lb more than machine bar) once I reach those levels and focus on building speed and endurance.

I all but neglected my biceps during these past two months because of a misunderstanding of how they work. I've started doing dumbbell curls but I'm sure I won't get much development until my next bulk phase.

Having said all of this, the natural question is how long this cut phase will last. Shooting from the hip, it's meant to last until April 1 since that will be another two months to mirror the bulk phase. At that point, I will evaluate my progress and adjust accordingly.

Looking further ahead, the major deadline is May 29th when the Biggest Loser type contest at work ends and final weigh-in is due. Depending on my progress, I may have another short bulk phase followed by another cut phase.

I think the best goal would be to run body fat cut until the deadline, with the aim to get my body fat so far down that the next bulk phase won't really need a cut phase.

That's where I stand right now.